Ginger is a palate cleanser, a spice, an immunity booster, and a digestive aid. In short, the small and knobby root is worth its weight in freshness—meaning that learning how to store ginger matters. Fortunately, because this foodstuff is, indeed, a root, storage is often as simple as leaving it alone until you’re ready to snack.

Though seemingly a small habit, food waste contributes to global warming in a major way. When tossed in the trash, food scraps end up in the landfill where a lack of oxygen leads to decomposition accompanied by the release of harmful greenhouse gases like methane. And while composting is, of course, a helpful aid in ensuring your food remains edible is the most sustainable solution.

Want to ensure that your go-to root stays fresh for all of your intended uses? Here are five tips for how to store ginger.

How to Store Ginger: 5 Techniques to Try

1. Leave the Peel in Place

As with most roots, disrupting the skin of a ginger root can expedite spoilage. The solution? Don’t mess with the peel! Peeling is often done more for aesthetics than necessity, so leave ginger’s thin skin in place for a natural protectant designed to lengthen shelf-life.

2. Store at Room Temperature

Ginger is a low-maintenance root—so store it at room temperature! When left intact, ginger’s peel acts as a sort of bark, meaning that tossing it on your counter and leaving it alone is as good a plan as any.

3. Keep It Intact

Though chopping is a worthy step when refrigerating, ginger roots stored at room temperature are more likely to stay fresh if left alone. As with leaving skins intact, avoiding slicing into the root prevents oxygen from reaching the flesh and spoiling the rhizome.

4. Refrigerate or Freeze

When stored in an air-tight container in the fridge, ginger can stay fresh for four to six weeks. Whether chopped, grated, or left intact, an entirely sealed vessel is key—air is the enemy of freshness.

5. Pickle the Extras

Want to save your ginger in an instantly (and also addictively) edible guise? Pickle it. Once preserved, pickled ginger can last indefinitely in the refrigerator, adding zest to any dish.